'Pakistan sees US as worst enemy'

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September 10, 2012

23:47'Pakistan sees US as worst enemy' : Pakistan's powerful spy agency regards America as its "worst enemy,' and the government's claims that it is cooperating with the US are a sham to extract billions of dollars in American aid, according to the CIA informant jailed for his role in hunting down Osama bin Laden.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Shakil Afridi, the medical doctor who helped pinpoint bin Laden's Abbottabad compound before last year's raid by SEAL Team 6, described brutal torture at the hands of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, and said the agency is openly hostile to the U.S.

"They said 'The Americans are our worst enemies, worse than the Indians,'' Afridi, who spoke from inside Peshawar Central Jail, said as he recalled the brutal interrogation and torture he suffered after he was initially detained.

23:28Syria rebels execute soldiers: Syrian rebels have summarily executed at least 20 soldiers in the embattled northern city of Aleppo, a watchdog said today as peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi admitted he faces a "very difficult" task.

Brahimi made the remarks in Cairo where he launched his first official visit to the region, as delegations from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Iran also met in Cairo to find a way out of the crisis. Reports of the executions came as Syrian MiG warplanes blitzed areas of Aleppo, dropping two bombs at a time and then opening up with machinegun fire, an AFP correspondent reported in the afternoon.

Helicopter gunships also flew over the city causing panic on the streets as residents fled for safety, the correspondent said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights earlier said at least five people died and an unknown number were hurt when the warplanes staged waves of bombing raids from early morning on the Marjeh, Sakhur, Hanano, Tariq al-Bab and Sheikh Khodr neighbourhoods.

22:42Jundal to be taken to Nashik: A court today allowed ATS to take 26/11 key handler Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal to Nashik in connection with his bid to attack police academy there. The special MCOCA court today remanded Jundal to judicial custody till September 24 in the Aurangabad Arms Haul case.

The ATS would produce Jundal in a Nashik court and seek his remand, sources said. Meanwhile, ATS officials today told the court that they spoke to Jundal's parents and asked them to come to Mumbai to meet him but they have not yet turned up.

"We have called them but they have not yet turned up," ATS told the court to which Jundal responded saying that "They would be busy in some work and I will decide on my lawyer only after talking to my parents". The court had earlier directed the ATS officers to tell Jundal's parents that he wanted to meet them.

22:16No decision on blacklisting Taliban: Clinton: Days after the US put the Taliban-linked Haqqani Network on its list of designated foreign terrorist groups, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has indicated that Washington was still undecided on a similar measure to blacklist the Taliban.

Clinton asserted that the US will use every tool to pressure the Pakistan-based Haqqani Network. The US has been pressing Pakistan to launch an operation in North Waziristan to target militants of the Haqqani Network.

Haqqani Network was designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by Clinton last week.

Said to be the first India and Pakistan dual-country soccer exchange of its kind, members of the delegation, during the 10-day programme, will share their experiences, learn about the US through the lens of sports, interact with young American athletes, and meet with US sports professionals.

The programme, being sponsored by the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs' Sports United Division, will include a series of intensive soccer clinics, conflict resolution workshops and sessions on disability sports.

20:56Goa orders shutdown of 90 mines!: The Goa government has ordered the shutdown of all 90 mines till further notice. The decision comes in the wake of allegations of a iron ore mining scam that has rocked the state.

One person died in police firing as protests against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu became more intense on a day that fuel was to be loaded in the first of two 1,000 megawatt reactors to enable it to start producing power. The situation in Kudankulam and Tuticorin is under control.

Extra police force has been deployed around Kudankulam.

19:35Coal scam: CBI shortlists people to be questioned: The CBI has shortlisted the people who are likely to be called for recording their statements in connection with five cases registered by it for alleged irregularities in allocation of captive coal blocks.

Agency sources said in the first batch, the accused named in the FIRs against JLD Yavatmal Energy Limited, JAS Infrastructure Capital Private Limited and AMR Iron and Steel are likely to be called at its headquarters in New Delhi for examination.

In its FIR against JLD Yavatmal Energy Limited, which bagged Fatehpur East Coal Block in Chhattisgarh, CBI has namedVijay Darda along with his son Devendra and other former and present directors including brother Rajendra Darda, Manoj Jayaswal, Anand Jayaswal and Abhishek Jayaswal, they said.

19:01Pascal's bail plea adjourned to September 17: The Karnataka High Court today adjourned to September 17 hearing of the bail petition filed by French diplomat Pascal Mazurier, arrested on charges of raping his three-and-a-half-year-old daughter.

Justice H N Nagamohan Das adjourned further hearing of the petition to September 17 after the government sought time to file rejoinder to the objections filed by Pascal's counsel to the application filed by the diplomat's wife Suja Jones impleading herself as the second respondent in the case.

He said such a step was necessary as the protesters have shown their "true face" now. Swamy also claimed that he had information that LTTE sympathisers and Naxalites have penetrated into this.

18:59NIA probes terror funding for Babbar Khalsa group from UK: The National Investigation Agency is probing a terror funding racket of banned Sikh separatist outfit Babbar Khalsa International being allegedly run from the United Kingdom to commit terrorist acts in India. A case in this regard was registered by the agency late last month against the operatives of BKI.

18:57Cops chargesheet LeT module, 3 others in terror case: The Delhi police has chargesheeted four persons including a suspected LeT operative for allegedly planning to execute blasts at major shopping centres here at the behest of their Pakistani handlers. The charge sheet has also named seven Pakistani nationals and a Jammu and Kashmir native as suspects in the case.

18:33Kudankulam: 1 fisherman dies in police firing: One fisherman was killed as police opened fire to control the anti-nuclear power plant protesters in Kudankulam on Monday. Police opened fire in the evening following day-long clashes in the area between the fishermen and the police force.

Anti-nuclear protesters turned violent today after police foiled their repeated attempts to lay siege to the atomic power plant here by bursting teargas shells and resorting to lathicharge.

The over 2,000 protesters fought pitched battles throwing stones, logs and sand on the baton-wielding policemen who chased them with many of them even rushing towards the sea.

The police action followed after authorities failed to persuade the protesters who, for the second day, defied prohibitory orders and stayed put at the seashore, about 500 metres away from the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant.

18:27Katju: Arrest cops, politicians, NOT cartoonist : Terming the arrest of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi in Mumbai a "serious criminal offence", Press Council of India Chairman Markandey Katju today said politicians and police officials behind it should be instead arrested and tried.

"Because under Section 342 of the PIC, wrongful arrest and confinement are serious criminal offences....If you are arresting a person who has not committed a crime, then you are committing a crime. So, these politicians and these police officers should be arrested and made to face trial," he said while delivering a lecture on 'Self Regulation in Electronic Media in India' at Anna University here.

Earlier, Katju, a former Superme Court judge, had said that the cartoonist did nothing illegal.

18:09Brooke Shields of the fake orange tan : If you're on the wrong side of 40, you may remember her for her sole claim to fame -- Blue Lagoon. Brooke Shields now a 47-year-old model, mom and Broadway star popped up at the premiere of the Diana Vreeland documentary over the weekend in an all-black ensemble which showed off her other accessory: an extremely bronze spray tan. Read

18:03 Has India begun hating cartoons? Read the opinion piece on the bbc.

The Dornier 9N AIG aircraft belonging to the private carrier Agni Air with 21 people on board crashed on the Jomsom-Pokhara route after hitting a hill top while attempting to land at the high-altitude Jomsom airport.

Six others, including three Indians and two Danish nationals, miraculously survived the crash. A probe committee led by Medini Prasad Sharma, former director-general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, has blamed the "disaster on judgmental error on the part of the pilot-in-command due to stress".

17:10The man who revolutionised white : Another eulogy on Dr Verghese Kurien. Amul's success came from a combination of its founder's socialist vision and his passion for technology. Read

17:06IMG to meet on Sept 12 to finalise report on 29 coal blocks: The Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) on the allocation of coal blocks will decide this week the fate of 29 mines given to companies such as Jindal Steel and Power and Reliance Power, following its last week's review of the progress made in developing them.

"The next meeting of the IMG will be held on September 12 ...to deliberate and finalise its recommendations in respect of allocatees/companies which made presentations before it," an official statement said. The panel undertook the review of the blocks from September 6-8.

16:55 The All India Congress Committee is also being reorganised by the end of this month. Four Union Ministers are likely to be brought to 24 Akbar Road.

16:54Cabinet expansion between September 25-30: Our Delhi sources tell us that views emerging from the corridors of power is of a possible early poll in March 2013 if the winter session of Parliament is not conducted peacefully and if the opposition ensures a washout. A list of possible inductions to the Union Cabinet and a list of new portfolios is ready with the Congress Core Committee. With Sonia Gandhi back in the saddle, final touches to the much prolonged expansion of the Union Council of Ministers is expected between 25th September and 30th September.

16:22Bhushan accuses UPA of fascism for arresting cartoonist: As the arrest of Kanpur-based cartoonist Aseem Trivedi by Mumbai Police sparked protests across the nation, Supreme Court lawyer and India Against Corruption (IAC) member Prashant Bhushan on Monday alleged that the ruling UPA Government has developed a fascist bent of mind for it unnecessarily targets all those highlighting the issue of corruption or fracas that took place inside the Parliament.

Bhushan charged the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre of suppressing all voices fighting against the rampant corruption in the country.

"Whenever whistleblowers or other political activists are highlighting the issue of corruption or highlight all kinds of fracas which takes place inside the Parliament, instead of dealing with that they want to silence the voices of all those people who are highlighting it," said Bhushan.

16:05My cartoons did nothing but tell the truth: Trivedi: Cartoonist and free speech activist Aseem Trivedi was set to pick up an award for his hard-hitting cartoons in Washington D.C. this week. But his trip was abruptly canceled after a Mumbai court found these same cartoons "offensive' and issued a warrant for his detention.

"My cartoons did nothing but tell the truth," Trivedi told India Real Time on Friday after he heard of the court order. Read

15:57RR Patil tries to distance himself from cartoonist row: The Maharashtra government sought to distance itself from the row surrounding the jailed cartoonist, but said it was trying to seek the release of the artist who has been charged with sedition. Home minister RR Patil told reporters here that his department has nothing to do with the complaint filed against Trivedi.

The Kanpur-based cartoonist was arrested by Mumbai Police on Saturday on the basis of a complaint, which alleged he posted seditious content on his website, filed in December by a member of Republican Party of India. A court had on Sunday remanded him to police custody till September 16.

Patil said the government was considering Trivedi's case sympathetically and trying to seek his release.

15:54Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi sent to jail till Sept 24 :
Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi has been sent to judicial custody till September 24. While the Mumbai police surrendered custody, Trivedi maintained that he would not seek bail unless the sedition charges against him were dropped.

Unless the government decides to drop the sedition charges against the cartoonist, he is likely to remain in jail since he will not apply for bail.

"I am proud of what I have done and will continue to do it," Trivedi said while being taken to court earlier today.

Trivedi had in one cartoon depicted four wolves in place of the lions on
the national emblem, the Ashoka pillar, blood in the mouth of the
beasts and the caption read Bhrashtameva Jayate (corruption shall
prevail) instead of Satyameva Jayate (truth shall prevail).

15:38 Interesting! Plague culture and Anthrax Spore vaccine, human viscera and asafoetida can be sent by post. Read

15:15Katju defends Trivedi: He did nothing illegal:
Incidentally, Justice Markandey Katju, Press Council of India chairman, on Sunday defended Aseem Trivedi, who was arrested for allegedly posting seditious content on his web portal, saying the cartoonist has done nothing illegal.

"My opinion is that the cartoonist did nothing illegal. In a democracy many things are said, some truthful and others false," Katju said in a statement. Trivedi was arrested on Saturday and produced in a Mumbai court which sent him to police custody till September 16.

15:08Cartoonist wants sedition charge dropped first : Cartoonist Aseem Trivedi who is now in in a Mumbai court says the sedition charges against him have to be dropped first. Trivedi was arrested on Saturday for allegedly displaying questionable caricatures of
Parliament, the national emblem and the Constitution during an India
Against Corruption (IAC) protest and posting the same on a social
networking site, will be released from custody.

He was remanded to
police custody
till September 16 after being produced before a
holiday court on Sunday. According to the Bandra-Kurla Complex police,
Aseem Trivedi had put up the caricatures in the form of posters
during an IAC protest in December 2011 at the MMRDA grounds.

The police have however decided to surrender his custody, which means he will be freed as soon as the court proceedings are over.

15:03Another rape in Bengal?:
A woman was allegedly raped by a group of miscreants when she was returning home with her husband at City Centre in the industrial township of Durgapur, the police said today.

The 38-year-old woman who runs a pathological laboratory at Asansol in partnership with a doctor was picked up by the group of men at Piyala Kalibari last night, the police said.

"The gang beat up her husband who works in a nationalised bank and allegedly raped her," AD CP (Durgapur) Sunil Yadav. She lodged a complaint with the police last night and underwent medical tests but no evidence of gangrape has been established yet, Yadav said. Another confirmatory test would be carried out at Burdwan Medical College and Hospital again, he said.

The husband of the woman has been held for questioning. The woman was her second wife, the police said. Nobody has been arrested yet, Yadav said.

15:02Does Delhi need a cap on car ownership? : Is it time for India to take lessons from China about pollution and congestion?The municipal government of Guangzhou, one of China's biggest auto manufacturing centers, plans to halve the number of new cars on the streets, The New York Times reported, by introducing 'license plate auctions and lotteries'.

14:46CPI(M) slams arrest of cartoonist in Mumbai: Condemning the arrest of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi in Mumbai, the CPI(M) today said it was "outrageous" that he had been slapped with sedition charges for drawing cartoons against corruption.

The party demanded his immediate release and withdrawal of the charges against him, saying "there is an urgent need to review the sedition clause in the Indian Penal Code which is now being misused frequently."

"Trivedi has been arrested for drawing cartoons and publishing them as part of an anti-corruption campaign. It is outrageous that he has been charged with sedition," the CPI(M) Politburo said in a statement.

Arrested for allegedly posting seditious content on his website, Trivedi was remanded to police custody till September 16 by a Mumbai court yesterday.

14:37Media in the dock: In the wake of the arrest and now possible release of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, here's a timeline of cases against the media by those they have been questioned or investigated. This timeline charts these attempts to muzzle the media by politicians, journalists, judges, companies and even other media houses. Read

14:03Karnataka agrees to release 1000 cusecs of water to TN: Karnataka has agreed before the Supreme Court to release 1000 cusecs of water daily from Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu till September. The Supreme Court heard the plea of Tamil Nadu seeking a direction to Karnataka for releasing 2TMC of water from Cauvery river as an interim measure.

The plea by the Tamil Nadu Government was made after the Centre told a bench comprising justices D K Jain and Madan Lokur that a meeting of Cauvery River Authority (CRA) headed by the Prime Minister will be held on September 19. The Bench on September 3 had pulled up the PMO officials for not holding a meeting of CRA to resolve the water-sharing dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

13:55Thought Raj will carry forward my cartoonist legacy: Thackeray: Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray today said he thought nephew Raj Thackeray would carry forward his legacy as a cartoonist. Asked why no one could inherit his legacy as a cartoonist, Thackeray said, "Who will take it forward? I thought Raja (his pet name for nephew Raj Thackeray) will carry it forward."

Thackeray expressed these sentiments in the last part of his marathon interview, published in party mouthpiece "Saamana" today.

Among the faces which could be called a cartoonist's delight are Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Prithviraj Chavan, Sharad Pawar and L K Advani, Thackeray said. The 86-year old Sena chief's son Uddhav, who is party executive president, is an avid photographer and is compiling a book on his cartoons.

Taking a swipe at media, Thackeray said, "Editors have become saleable and have become "chamchas" ( sycophants) of political parties, which can be seen from their writing." On his not occupying any post in government, Thackeray said, "I stayed out of power. I could have become anything. I could have been part of the ministries in Maharashtra and Delhi. I stayed away from the chair (seat of power). That is my asset."

The German supermodel and broke her silence in an exclusive TV interview, insisting, "when we were together, I never looked at another man.'

According to sources, the TV host was devastated after Seal made the mean-spirited comment, which suggested his ex-wife's alleged cheating with her bodyguard caused their split. "I preferred Heidi would have showed a little bit more class and at least waited until we separated first before deciding to fornicate with the help,' the New York Post quoted.

13:42 Here's why cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was arrested. Trivedi had in one cartoon depicted four wolves in place of the lions on the national emblem, the Ashoka pillar, blood in the mouth of the beasts and the caption read Bhrashtameva Jayate (corruption shall prevail) instead of Satyameva Jayate (truth shall prevail).

13:37Pak PM leaves for China: Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf today began his first visit to Pakistan's traditional ally China, where he will attend a meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Ashraf said before his departure that he would interact with Chinese leaders, especially Premier Wen Jiabao, and discuss all issues related to cooperation in trade and energy sector.

"China is a trustworthy friend and has always supported Pakistan against all odds and in difficult times," he said. The issue of developing Gwadar port and greater cooperation in energy will be discussed during his meetings with Chinese leadership, he said.

13:07Mumbai police to free cartoonist Aseem Trivedi : Aseem Trivedi, the cartoonist who was arrested by the Mumbai police on Saturday for allegedly displaying questionable caricatures of Parliament, the national emblem and the Constitution during an India Against Corruption (IAC) protest and posting the same on a social networking site, will be released from custody. He was remanded to police custody till September 16 after being produced before a holiday court on Sunday. According to the Bandra-Kurla Complex police, Aseem Trivedi had put up the caricatures in the form of posters during an IAC protest in December 2011 at the MMRDA grounds.Maharashtra home minister RR Patil had slammed the custody.

12:41Nitish Kumar to campaign against Modi in Gujarat:
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has announced that his party, the Janata Dal (United) will campaign against CM Narendra Modi in Gujarat during the upcoming polls. Nitish said the JD(U) will have no alliance with BJP in Gujarat. The Bihar and Gujarat CMs have been involved in the battle of words ever since Nitish Kumar became CM.

In June, a day after Modi had observed that the 'casteist' leaders had pushed Bihar to economic backwardness, his Nitish Kumar asked the former to look at his situation instead of making comments on others. "One should think about one's own situation (Bihar par tippani karne walon ko apne halaat ke bare me sochana chahiye)", he said.

Nearly 1,000 people were heading
to the plant by marching along the seashore in the Tirunelveli
district, a route that surprised the police. Today, fuel is to be loaded
in the first of two 1,000 megawatt reactors, enabling it to start
producing power.Read more

12:33'A bomb doesn't differentiate between Hindus and Muslims': Mumbai Police Commissioner Dr Satyapal Singh, the 37th police chief of the megapolis who took charge last month, is one of the most competent law enforcers to take over the reins of the city police. Regarded as a no-nonsense officer, Dr Singh's non-controversial career is peppered with several highs.

In his first exclusive interview since he took charge as the Mumbai police commissioner, Dr Satyapal Singh fields a volley of uncomfortable questions from S Hussain Zaidi. Read the full interview on rediff.com.

12:31Jal Satyagraha: Digvijay asks MP govt to finalise rehabilitation: Commenting over the ongoing ''Jal Satyagraha'' in neck-deep water in
Ghogalgaon village in Madhya Pradesh''s Khandwa district, Congress
leader Digvijay Singh today lashed out at the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led
BJP Government in the state over not been able to finalise the
rehabilitation and provide relief to the villagers.

"I think
the state government is responsible to solve this issue. And there are
two three things involved. Number one at what level the rehabilitation
and resettlement has taken place. Number two if the rehabilitation,
resettlement has not taken place at a level where the water is at just
now, I think the government should immediately finalise the
rehabilitation and provide relief to the land oustees," Singh said.

The family of an Indian child who has been kept away from his parents by the American child service authorities in New Jersey have appealed to the government to help them. The Sahas' 11-month old son is currently in hospital. Read more

12:06How Dr Kuriens business wisdom built the Amul brand: The success of Amul is no accident. It was Dr Kurien's understanding of how brands work, of the importance of building brands, of the focus on quality, value for money and customer centricity as a bedrock of all that Amul did, which has made Amul the behemoth that it is. Read

12:03Children who sell themselves: "Children as young as 10 had begun to directly offer themselves to traffickers because they could no longer go hungry," Sonia Faleiro writes of children in the northern state of Bihar in The International Herald Tribune. Read

11:52Too much pain to bear: A couple were in mourning yesterday after their teenage son was found dead in a river -- the third of their five children they have lost. Read more

11:41India's Milkman Kurien will always ring a bell: The man who helped millions of poor Indians reinvent their lives and livelihood and led the country itself from deprivation to the abundance of milk has passed away. Verghese Kurien, 90, died of old age-related ailments around 1.15 am on Sunday.

11:37A womans struggle with Tuberculosis: Over the past six years, Rahima Sheikh, 40 years old, mortgaged her family's rice fields, spent her father's and brother's life savings, and crisscrossed India in search of a cure for tuberculosis. But instead of getting healthier, Sheikh grew increasingly resistant to medication with each failed treatment. Read the full story here.

11:331 democratic protest. 8,000 sedition cases: Is this a free country? The protest over the nuclear plant in Koodankulam has claimed the livelihood of thousands, with bogus charges filed and restrictions on their occupation. Read the report here

11:22Girls, 12, married off in UK: British Muslim imams are offering to conduct marriages with child brides as young as 12, it was claimed yesterday. It is feared it could lead to underage sex. An investigator posed as a father wanting to marry off his 12-year-old daughter to an older husband. Read more

Well, US President Barack Obama was given a voter lift, when he was raised off the ground by an enthusiastic supporter in Florida. Obama was lifted in a bear hug by 1.90m-tall (6.2ft) pizza shop owner Scott Van Duzer during a bus tour.

11:03Seditious cartoons? Real dishonour is in Indias plunder!: The arrest of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi for allegedly displaying questionable caricatures of Parliament, the national emblem and the Constitution has sparked outrage among people. Trivedi's cartoons are not calculated to amuse, reports Firstpost.com. His series of cartoons and caricatures on corruption, in particular, are searing in the extreme, reflecting rage rather than lightness of manner. More

The teenager with a freshly minted driver's permit caught a bus too late and missed his practice time. He didn't miss much of anything else in more than two decades of visiting Flushing Meadows.

The two-time winner was inducted yesterday into the US Open Court of Champions at Arthur Ashe Stadium before the women's final. "I wish I had the words to describe the sound you make during critical matches, the roar, the applause, the love," the 42-year-old Agassi told the New York fans during the ceremony. "It's like a jet engine and a giant heartbeat."

10:55Jal Satyagraha: MP govt agrees to lower dam level: A Central team including two Secretary-level officials from the Power Ministry will arrive at the protest site today.Deputed by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, ministers Kailash Vijaywargia and Vijay Shah had visited village Ghogalgaon on Saturday and met the agitators assuring them of an early decision to protect their rights.Some meetings took place yesterday in Bhopal too. More

10:43MP dam deadlock ends, govt to reduce water level: The deadlock over the Omkareshwar dam has ended. The Jal Satyagrahis of Ghogalgaon, who have been standing in the backwaters of the dam since August 25, have had their demands answered.

The Madhya Pradesh government has agreed to form a five-member panel to look into the demands of the locals over the next 90 days. The CM has also agreed to rehabilitate displaced persons and reduce the water level of the dam.

A total of 51 farmers have been sitting on Jal Satygarh in relay. The 520 MW Omkareshwar project is one of the several big dams on the Narmada river, built by the Narmada Hydroelectric Development Corporation a joint venture between NHPC Ltd and the government of Madhya Pradesh. The protesters say increasing the water level in the dam would submerge their lands spread across several villages and alleged that the state government has failed to provide compensation as per the Supreme Court ruling.

Xinhua reports: A series of bombs and gunfire attacks across Iraq on Sunday killed some 52 Iraqis and wounded more than 200 others, in what appeared to be an attempt by insurgent groups to destabilize the country and undermine confidence in the Iraqi government.

The deadliest attack in the day occurred near the city of Amara, some 365 km south of Baghdad, when two car bombs exploded at a marketplace near the shrine of Shiite Imam Ali al-Sharqi in the town that holds the name of the Imam, killing 18 people and wounding some 70 others.

"My opinion is that the cartoonist did nothing illegal. In a democracy many things are said, some truthful and others false," Katju said in a statement.

To drive home his point, Katju recalled his own words as a judge and said he used to often say in court that people can call him a fool or crook inside the court or outside but he will never initiate contempt of court proceedings, because either the allegation is true, "in which case I deserve it, or it is false, in which case I will ignore it".

The BSE benchmark index Sensex gained over 61 points in early trade on Monday on sustained buying by funds and retailers amid a firming trend in Asian region.

The 30-share barometer added 61.25 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 17,810.90 with stocks of healthcare, IT and banking sectors leading the rise. The index had gained almost 437 points in the previous three sessions.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty moved up by 16.75 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 5,375.45.

Trading sentiment remained firm on continued buying by funds and retail investors largely in tandem with a firming trend in the Asian region on hopes of fresh US stimulus measures to boost economy.

The transaction will close by October-end. Infosys will get 200 new clients and add 850 employees post Lodestone Acquisition.

Infosys touched an intraday high of Rs 2,524.70 and an intraday low of Rs 2,490. At 09:18 hrs the share was quoting at Rs 2,520, up Rs 24.10, or 0.97%.

It was trading with volumes of 17,127 shares. In the previous trading session, the share closed up 0.52% or Rs 12.90 at Rs 2,495.90.

Lodestone Holding AG is a global management consultancy firm. Zurich-based Lodestone was founded in 2005 by a former McKinsey consultant Ronald Hafner. It has revenues of $209 million and employs about 800 people.

After coming under severe criticism for the unruly behaviour of its workers at an anti-government congregation in Kolkata, the Congress, the main opposition party in the state, has promised to display a restrained demeanor during the 12-hour bandh called by the party on Monday to protest the police excesses at the Thursdays rally.

The Congress rally had turned violent when some party workers tried to break the security barricade and enter the assembly premises leading to bloody clashes with police.

Even as the police used water cannons, tear gas and batons to disperse the crowd, some Congress workers brutally beat up a lady constable, the visuals of which in the electronics media invited lot of criticism from social activists across the country much to the embarrassment of the party.

Scores of people were injured in the clash who included some policemen and media persons.

The Congress, meanwhile, apologised for the attack on the lady constable, but disowned the culprits who indulged in violence. It was the handiwork of some lumpen lements who were more of ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the party leadership said.

Pakistani security forces pushed Taliban militants who came from Afghanistan back across the border after more than two weeks of fighting in a mountainous tribal region, spokesmen for both sides said.

The government says over 100 people were killed in the offensive.

The violence in the northwestern Bajur area highlighted the growing problem of Taliban militants using sanctuaries in Afghanistan to attack Pakistan. The frequency of the raids has increased, and this was the first instance in which Pakistani Taliban militants coming from Afghanistan seized and held territory in Pakistan for a significant amount of time.

Pakistan has called on Afghan and NATO forces to do more to stop militants from crossing into the country. Kabul and the international coalition have acknowledged the problem, but also want Pakistan to do more to stop militants holed up on its territory from launching attacks into Afghanistan.

Security forces finally managed to push the militants back from the Salarzai region of Bajur on Saturday, said Jehangir Azam Wazir, the top political official in the area. "Unexpectedly, the militants showed tough resistance this time, but finally our security forces along with volunteers of the Salarzai militia succeeded in eliminating them," said Wazir.

The dead included at least 80 militants, 18 civilians, 12 anti-Taliban militiamen and eight soldiers, he said. An additional 13 soldiers are missing and are believed to be in the hands of the Taliban.

Hundreds of people who were trapped by the fighting in a string of villages along the border were finally able to leave yesterday. They had been confined to their homes, and many were running low on food.

Ravi Shankar's 'The Art of Living' foundation estimates Sunday's crowd at a park swelled to more than 100,000 people.

They chanted and moved rhythmically as the guru urged them to focus their collective energy on ending violence and creating a world free of stress. Smaller crowds were urged to meditate together around the world as Ravi Shankar's image was transmitted on television screens.